The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee recently passed a resolution to recognize and designate May 5 as a day of awareness for missing and murdered indigenous people.

The resolution marks the first official action on murdered and missing indigenous people in the state.

The committee, including Rep. Tim Remington, R-Coeur d’Alene, unanimously recommended the resolution to the full House.

“We’re really pleased to see the level of concern and support from the Legislature on this really important issue,” said Tyrel Stevenson, legislative affairs director for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. “We look forward to continuing our efforts to try and find solutions.”

According to the Urban Indian Health Institute, in 2016, the National Crime Information Center recorded 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. Only 116 reports were logged into the United States Department of Justice database, however.

Murder is the third-leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rep. Caroline Troy, R-Genesee, sponsored the resolution, citing the difficulty of talking about the issue and the need to raise awareness about violence against native women and the marginalization of native people in the state.

“Native women experience domestic and sexual violence at a much higher rate than other populations,” Stevenson said. “We see direct links between that and human trafficking.”

On Nov. 22, U.S. Attorney General William Barr launched a national strategy to address missing and murdered Native Americans.

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Initiative placed coordinators in U.S. Attorney’s offices in 11 states to help establish communication between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement response to missing cases.

Idaho did not receive an MMIP coordinator.

“The resolution is calling for continued efforts for the state, tribes, local law enforcement, domestic violence prevention advocates, and others,” Stevenson said.

Nationally recognized last year, the day calls upon federal, state, tribal and local governments to increase awareness of the crisis of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives with programs and activities.

The resolution also advocates for methodology, funding, and data management that sufficiently tracks the number of murdered and missing Idaho tribal members.